Now, I am the first to admit that Canada post is not perfect, BUT, let me tell you, the mail is delivered every freaking day. I worked at the post office for a few weeks one Christmas, and I would just like to say that it was a point of honour to get the mail through, every day in a timely manner.
Honour.
I'm not kidding, these guys took their jobs really seriously.
The mail gets through, every day.
and he had issues, but we just won't get into that right now.
So....we've had a mystery here; you see, the man subscribes to the Economist, it's a gift and he really really likes it. Back in Canada it used to arrive every single Thursday. Every single time. Here...not really. Sometimes we go three weeks and don't get a copy, then we get four at once. Now you see, it's a current affairs kinda job, so four weeks later, it just isn't quite the same.
I went into the post office today to ask. I used the stupid foreigner routine. I don't want to offend them you know or we'd never ever get ANY mail.
Seems we don't have a postal carrier. The very friendly man behind the counter told me this with a smile and a shrug. There just isn't one, so our mail is piling up in the back in big boxes along with everyone else's from our neighbourhood.
Say what?
Ho hum.
Seems there is a substitute that comes in now and then from BCN to do the work.
Can you imagine?
Mañana and a half my friends. (Nationalist Catalan grumblings and rumblings about those bumbling idiots in Madrid and their mañana attitude could be inserted here were we Catalan nationalists.)
Astonishing.
I have put in a request for our mail. The man will pick it up tomorrow on his way home from work. I think I will put in a standing request that they set it aside every day, and he can get it every day. Maybe the squeaky wheel will get them tired enough of the situation that they actually hire someone to do the job.
We're not in Canada anymore Toto....or the States, or England or Germany or Holland or Denmark or Belgium or Sweden or...or...or...or...or.....
9 comments:
Wow, that IS appalling!! Guess we North Americans are just plain spoiled by receiving regular mail.
PS, do dish about your psycho mailman!
That's pretty scary. Though I have to say I have had a couple of issues with the mail delivery in here. Opened package hastily sealed back with a "sorry, it was like that when we got it." plastic wrapping on it. And mailman not even ringing when delivering a package, putting a note saying "no answer, pick that up at the post office tomorrow". Well, it's probably not as bad as having no mailman at all, I suppose...
my mail USED to come at the same time every day...not any more. who knows what time it will come...but at least it COMES!!!
That "no mail carrier" thing happened to me in Costa Rica, so they let me go down to the post office and sort through the mail myself, looking for anything that might be for me. It sounds like having The Man get the mail himself every day actually sounds like a pretty good solution (inconvenience aside)-- hope things get better.
I read an issue of The Economist on the plane last trip home-- otherwise I never would have picked it up, but it was quite interesting, actually.
Carla, it is simply amazing...where is the pony express when you need it! I may get to the postal postman one of these days...
LP, the packages are often opened by customs, though they are supposed to put a note on it stating that they opened it, which has happened to me a number of times. The lazy postman, yeah, makes me crazy, though it didn't happen to me when I was in TO, here, sometimes.
Beth, when our mail does come, it is always at the same time, but we never know which week. Weird.
Kate, we did get the mail today, and apparently we are maybe going to get a mail carrier on Monday, we're not holding our breath....the Economist...it leans far right, but is well written, I always start at the back on my Mom's good advice. Obit (always interesting, I have even used it in an ESL class) arts and lit, then science, then they get to economics, which I usually scan rapidly till I get to the politics, which I grope through trying not to get too horrificly depressed.
Oh, hoping you're not waiting on a big check.
customs put a note, and use special "inspected by Customs" tape. I'm speaking about opened packages not by customs, and broken items :(
Hula, I wish.
LP, Oh, that sucks...I wonder why they were going in? Weird. Now when my sister first moved to Poland that was another issue, never a package arrived...same when a friend lived in Senegal. Couldn't get a package through for love or money. Their outbound mail was tricky too, I think it was being stolen for the stamps which were re-sold.
Post a Comment